Nir Eyal (born June 1970) is a bioethicist and Henry Rutgers Professor of Bioethics and Director of the Center for Population–Level Bioethics at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. He was formerly a bioethicist in the Department of Global Health and Population of the
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...
and the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine of the
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
. He has long worked closely with Harvard bioethicist
Daniel Wikler. Eyal's current visibility concerns his role in studying the ethics of
human challenge trials in HIV, malaria, and coronavirus vaccine development. He has also written on '
bystander risks' during
pandemics
A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic dis ...
and
infectious diseases
infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
and
contract tracing during
ebola
Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after in ...
.
Career
Eyal received his early education at Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University in Israel and the DPhil in Politics from
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
. He worked with Peter Singer and others during his 2004-2006 post-doctoral study at Princeton University in the NIH Department of Clinical Bioethics and the Princeton University Center for Human Values. He researched and taught from through 2019 in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine of the
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
and in the Department of Global Health and Population of the
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...
. During those thirteen years, he was affiliated with Faculties of the
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
and
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is the largest of the ten faculties that constitute Harvard University.
Headquartered principally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and centered in the historic Harvard Yard, FAS is the only faculty respo ...
and their research centers. In 2009–2010, he was a Faculty Fellow in a visitorship at the
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
The Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics is a research center at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The center's mission is to "advance teaching and research on ethical issues in public life." It is named for Edmond J. Safra and ...
in Cambridge.
Since mid-2019, Eyal has been a faculty member within the
Rutgers
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...
Department of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Population–Level Bioethics there.
Education and postdoctoral training
* 2004–2006 Harold T Shapiro Postdoctoral Fellowship in Bioethics,
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
Center for Human Values
* 2002–2004 Postdoctoral Fellow,
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...
, Department of Clinical Bioethics
* 1998–2003 DPhil, Politics (political philosophy),
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
* 1994–1998 MA, Philosophy,
Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...
* 1991–1994 BA, Philosophy and History,
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
Awards
* Lady Davis Fellowship –
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
(2018)
* Nominated for Donald O’Hara Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching –
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
(2014)
* Rector Award –
Roskilde University
Roskilde University (, abbreviated RUC or RU) is a Danish public university founded in 1972 and located in Trekroner in the Eastern part of Roskilde. The university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD degrees in a wide variet ...
(2013)
* Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP) Award –
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
(2011)
* Mark S. Ehrenreich Prize in Healthcare Ethics Research –
International Association of Bioethics and USC (2010) – For best paper in the
International Association of Bioethics Congress, with coauthor Neema Sofaer.
* Young Scholar Award, Ethics and Public Life Program –
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
(2006)
Select publications
Eyal N, Lipsitch M. How to Test Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccines Ethically Even After One Is Available Clinical Infectious Diseases, ciab182, 26 February 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab182. Accessed May 13, 2021.
Steel R, Buchak L, Eyal N. Why continuing uncertainties are no reason to postpone challenge trials for coronavirus vaccines. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2020. DOI 10.1136/medethics-2020-106501.Eyal N, Halkitis PN. AIDS Activism and Coronavirus Vaccine Challenge Trials. AIDS and Behavior, 2020.* Eyal N,
Lipsitch M, Smith PG. Human challenge studies to accelerate coronavirus vaccine licensure. J Infect Dis. 2020;221:1752.
* Eyal N. The benefit/risk ratio challenge in clinical research, and the case of HIV cure: an introduction. J Med Ethics. 2017;43:65–6.
* Eyal N. How to keep high-risk studies ethical: classifying candidate solutions. J Med Ethics. 2017;43:74–7.
* Eyal N. Why Challenge Trials of SARS‐CoV‐2 Vaccines Could Be Ethical Despite Risk of Severe Adverse Events. Ethics & Human Research. 2020.
* Eyal N,
Lipsitch M, Smith PG. Human challenge studies to accelerate coronavirus vaccine licensure. 2020. The Journal of infectious diseases 221 (11), 1752–1756.
* Brown MJ, Goodwin J, Liddell K, Martin S, Palmer S, Firth P, N Eyal, ... Allocating Medical Resources in the Time of COVID-19. The New England journal of medicine 2020:382
* Eyal N,
Lipsitch M. Ethical Comparators in Coronavirus Vaccine Trials.
* Eyal N, Hurst SA,
Murray CJL,
Wikler D, Schroeder SA. Measuring the Global Burden of Disease: Philosophical Dimensions. Oxford University Press, USA. 2020.
* Eyal N,
Wikler D. Ethical complexities of responding to bystander risk in HIV prevention trials. Clinical Trials 2020:16(5), 458–460.
*
Google Scholar list of publications by Nir Eyal
Personal life
Eyal is married to
Leah Price, Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University, founder and director of the Rutgers Initiative for the Book and the author of numerous books, including ''
What We Talk About When We Talk About Books''. Prior to moving to Rutgers, Price was Professor of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
and
American literature
American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where at the age of 31 she became one of the youngest assistant professors ever to be promoted to
tenure
Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...
at Harvard.
They have one son and live in
Princeton, New Jersey
The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...
.
Eyal is a member of
Giving What We Can
Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an effective altruism nonprofit that promotes effective giving through education, outreach, and advocacy around the 10% Pledge, which encourages members to donate at least 10% of their income to effective charities. ...
, a community of people who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to
effective charities.
See also
*
Bat-borne virus
The bat virome is the group of viruses associated with bats. Bats host a diverse array of viruses, including all seven types described by the Baltimore classification system: (I) double-stranded DNA viruses; (II) single-stranded DNA viruses; (I ...
*
Effective altruism
Effective altruism (EA) is a 21st-century philosophical and social movement that advocates impartially calculating benefits and prioritizing causes to provide the greatest good. It is motivated by "using evidence and reason to figure out how to b ...
*
Human challenge study
*
Informed consent
Informed consent is an applied ethics principle that a person must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about accepting risk. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatments, alternative treatme ...
*
Risk–benefit ratio
A risk–benefit ratio (or benefit-risk ratio) is the ratio of the risk of an action to its potential benefits. Risk–benefit analysis (or benefit-risk analysis) is analysis that seeks to quantify the risk and benefits and hence their ratio.
A ...
*
Zoonosis
A zoonosis (; plural zoonoses) or zoonotic disease is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen (an infectious agent, such as a virus, bacterium, parasite, fungi, or prion) that can jump from a non-human vertebrate to a human. When ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyal, Nir
Israeli Jews
Bioethicists
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Rutgers University faculty
National Institutes of Health people
Living people
1970 births